Illuminated Kiosks May Bring Diners Back to Restaurant Row

Nothing about the pomp at the 107-year-old Barbetta, the chocolate lava cake at Orso, or the Cajun chicken sandwich at Joe Allen Restaurant may be particularly trendy, but new, illuminated kiosks on 46th Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues will hopefully lead some new customers back into the dining rooms of the city’s famed Restaurant Row, The Wall Street Journal reports. Small business owners have long complained that sidewalk vendors, flashy Times Square restaurants, and the bustling Hell’s Kitchen restaurant scene have robbed the block of vital foot traffic, and so much veal-scallopini-derived revenue. [WSJ, Related]